Venators
The Venators are a rare successor of the Raven Guard of an Unknown Founding. The Venators specialise in urban combat and guerrilla warfare, also possessing an affinity for ranged combat and ambushes. The Chapter is rumored to have their initiates taught by Officio Assassinorum agents. The Venators are somewhat distrusted for their insular nature and "dishonorable" methods, however they continue to smash the Imperium's foes and have compiled a long, glorious legend. Chapter History The Venators have a long and only partially recorded history that is splattered across the Imperium's length. The Chapter has been recorded taking actions against the Imperium's foes since the Age of Apostasy. Due to the nature of the Venators tactics, many of these battles have not been recorded. On top of that their heavy involvement with the Assassinorum has led to most of their operations being classified to all but the Inquisition and the High Lords Of Terra. Notable Engagements: Chapter Organisation The Venators are organised broadly to the Codex Astartes, however as a Chapter, they see the Codex as a highly effective and proven set of strategic and operational guidelines rather than "holy" dogma to be obeyed without question. The Venators maintain a high degree of flexibility in their deployments and structures, and in battle favour ambushes, hit and run tactics and reliance on their uncanny marksmanship. Because of this outlook on the Codex Astartes, the Venators Companies and command structure often adapts to overcome certain challenges and keep the Chapter in fighting condition. The Chapter also contains a unusual amount of Sternguard Veterans, mainly due to the Chapters incredible marksmanship. These extra Veterans are placed in Command Squads or Honour Guards, as well as leading the Chapters line troops as Sergeants. This has altered the Chapters command and company structure somewhat, much to the annoyance of more Codex compliant Chapters. Chapter Combat Doctrine The Venators are known for shunning the glory of close quarter combat for the simple expediency of the clean kill from afar with ranged weapons. Like their parent Chapter, the Raven Guard, the Venators make extensive use of their Scout Marines dispersed throughout their taskforces, and maintain a sizable contingent of Land Speeders of all types as well as a core of diverse armoured vehicles. They prefer to employ these assets, along with their assault units, in precision strikes to overwhelm an enemy at strategically crucial junctures in battle after determining the most effective pressure point at which to break the enemy. Many Space Marine Chapters show a clear disdain for the use of concealment, secrecy and counter-intelligence. The Venators, however, enthusiastically and consistently applies these techniques throughout its battles. Deceiving their opponents as to the timing, nature, and objectives of an attack can often grant the Space Marines a significant advantage. Similarly, by scouting a region prior to launching an attack, the Venators often are able to insert their forces without their opponents realising they are even present. However, such insertions are entirely dependent upon the reliability and accuracy of their initial reconnaissance work. This requires extensive dependence upon their Scout Marine units, which exceeds the level characteristic of many other Space Marine Chapters. When engaged in scouting missions, the Chapter’s Battle-Brothers typically focus on both gathering intelligence and on countering the opposition’s efforts. Their Scouts are trained to stick to the shadows and confound the opponents efforts without placing themselves in danger. During the course of an engagement the Venators rely on two core tactics, The first being a ranged ambush and the second rapid hit and runs. When enacting the former the Venators deploy a a fraction of thier force in view of their foe, as bait, and the rest of their force spread around and behind enemy lines. When the enemy advances to attack the bait, the rest of the force takes firing postionss and catch thier foes in a lethal crossfire. The bait force usually contains the forces armoured vehicles and heavier infantry, alongside some other troops to maintain the illusion. The ambush force is composed almost entirely of infantry, with a few Land Speeder or other fast assault units as support. The second strategy the Venators use is more of a plan B then main combat style. If the crossfire fails and the enemy remains strong, the Venators turn to lightning hit and run attacks to destroy thier already fragmented foes. These tactics often involve heavy use of fast moving Assault units striking at the fore then Rhino mounted Tactical and Sternguard Veterans moving in to mop up the rest of the enemy force. Chapter Home World The Venators current Home world is unknown, as the Chapter is extremely secretive of its whereabouts and even name. This secrecy has put them at odds with officials in the Adeptus Administratum and even the Inquisition. There secret home also impedes contact with Terra, and the Venators have been known to give their tithes to Terra via Strike Cruiser rather then let an outsider know of the location of their homeworld. While the Inquisition has mounted numerous investigations, none have led to any result and sometimes even ended with the disappearance of an inquisitor n some occasions. Chapter Beliefs The Venators have faced calamity and near extinction many times, and have survived due to ruthlessness and adaptability. The Chapter as a grim determination to survive and thrive no matter what the odds, but do not believe wasting lives because of stubbornness or honour are acceptable. As the Chapters doctrine is centred around tactical superiority and unorthodox combat, the Chapter encourages it's Battle-Brothers to think independently and not to blindly obey. However such actions must fit in with the wider battle plan or objectives and never only benefit ones self. Chapter Gene Seed The Venators, despite being of Raven Guard descent, have a surprisingly pure and stable gene seed. though the Chapter lacks a functioning Mucranoid and Beltchers Gland, all other Space Marine organs are fully functional. It is unknown how this is possible, and some have gone far enough to say that they are not of Raven Guard descent at all. The Venators deny this, and the Raven Guard themselves have accepted them as successors Notable Venators Cyrax the Ghost: Cyrax is the Chapter Master of the Venators and a legendary strategist and marksman, even by Venator standards. Cyrax has been called cold, ruthless and dishonourable by several other Space Marine commanders, and has responded with the same cold stare and expressionless face. Cyrax wears custom Artificer armour that allows for greater freedom of motion and wields the boltgun Grim. Chapter Fleet Chapter Relics Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours Chapter Badge Relations Allies: (feel free to add any) Enemies: (feel free to add any Quotes By: About: (feel free to add your own) Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:Raven Guard Successors Category:Unknown Founding Category:LordReaper